HOW TO: Softmod Correctly

Xbox Error Codes Explained

Did you backup your eeprom? Can you load a game?

 

I read through the error codes, would a bootldr error casue the hard drive to stutter like it does?

I did the backup within the steps of the tutorial, through the softmod program, is that what you mean? Other than that, I did not make any other back-ups. Did I miss a step?

I can not load any games, the dvd drive spins for a few seconds, but does nothing. The screen stops at "XBOX", before throwing the error screen.

 

It really sounds like the hard drive is bad. You'll have to go the hard route and make an eeprom reader, though it shouldn't be too difficult for you.

Here's the link

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/357863

With the eeprom you can make a new hdd and softmod it while you make the new drive.

Usually when i softmod xbox's i backup the eeprom then ftp in and grab it off the box. There's no way to get your eeprom without making the reader if your hard drive fails because the backup that you made can only be accessed though a modded dash or exploit.

let me know how it goes and just reply here for any more questions.

Good luck

 

Thank you! I read through the eeprom reader guide, looks pretty simple, except the part about soldering. Don't get me wrong, I use my soldering iron all the time, I just really hate soldering small stuff. Really hate it.
looks like tomorrow is a trip to Radioshack...

 

OOKAY.. I'd like to say it was a breeze, but RadioShack screwed the pooch on that one. Aside from the multiple trips and their stupid redesigned serial connector, though, reading the eeprom was a breeze. The soldering was simple as heck, too, just tin, tin, heat, no need for anything fancy. I have two questions: Are there no private messages here? I was gonna pm C4RN1, but I couldn't figure it out. This board is confusing. Cool, but confusing. And Second, for anyone out there, on Liveinfo , once you load in the .bin, I noticed that the very bottom dialogue box shows HDD Status; and on mine it said "Locking: NOT SUPPORTED"(So did the spare 10gig I had laying around..). Is this a possible way to find compatible hard drives for an Xbox?

Oh, and is there a tut for building a hdd from scratch? I'm gonna need something like that..

 

You're asking all the right questions

first thing the pm button is on the user bar right corner


Second there's a whole xbox compatibilty list here
http://xboxdrives.x-pec.com/?p=list
Pretty much pick a ide/ata hard drive from maxtor, seagate or western digital.

And third you'll need to use xboxhdm to build a new drive from scratch.
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/533828

You can follow this tutorial it has most of the basics for using xbox hdm.

You can also use my softmod files if you want. All you have to do is determine your xbox's version and download the right files. Then using xboxhdm you throw the contents of C in your C, and the contents of E in your E. When the drive is built it will use my files all you have to do is lock the new drive with your eeprom and throw it in your xbox. Power it on and it will boot avalaunch.
Just use the link in my sig "my cheater C", it will work from v1.0 to 1.4.

Let me know if you have any more questions

 

lol, I'm a big fan of right questions. They make learning easy.
It seems like this site is about ten times more interactive than I'm used to. First, I looked on the left of the posts for a pm button, then I checked through member profiles, then I tried to check mine.. Never thought to check right above the text in a post.

So, the entire process of bulding a new harddrive was easy, I made one mistake renaming my eeprom.bin to EEPROM.BIN, found the answer to it on page 3 or 4, which was awesome(not having to search through the whole thread or make a new one)... But my WD100AA HDD apparently "does not support the ATA security type". Nuts. I'll have to wait and see if I can barter with a friend for one that will work. Aside from a few minor setbacks, though, these tutorials have all been easier than anything I've followed from the internet. Ever. It's nice to know that there are competent, intelligent websites out there.

I'll pm you if I have any other questions or anything, I don't want to keep bumping this thread with unrelated comments. Thank you!

 

@farnswort...
BestBuy here in the States has a Western Digital 320gb for $89.
I just bought one and used it to upgrade one of my boxes. I have 60 games on it and still have 165gb free space so it more than does the job. Of course, if you don't mind using writable media (DVDs) you don't even need a large hard drive. Basically just back up all your games to dvd and play them through the dvd reader. If you want to use XBMC to play .avi and .mp3 files saved to your drive or games to preserve the discs, then yes the bigger the better as long as it is a lockable IDE.

 

Thanks, I plan on using the box to watch media on my tv, too. I no longer have cable and need my fix of Discovery channel, SciFi, and Attack of the Show, which sucks to watch on a computer monitor. I have, err, had a computer with a video card to watch on my tv, but it broke and I have no money to fix it, so when the oppurtunity to hack a free xbox to do the same thing, I jumped at the chance. Should have wondered why it was free...

I wish I had the money to buy a new hdd, but I spent everything I had to buy equipment for my small graphic design company. It was either buy a ton of new toys, or finally start making my own graphics and vinyl decals.. It was a tough choice, but I had to make a smart decision for once. Sigh.

I'll probably try to post on craigslist or something and see if anyone wants car decals for trade(or to buy), at least until business starts to pick up(word of mouth advertising takes forever, but builds a strong, faithful customer base). Need to personalize your car?

 

@fanswort...

LOL

Yeah I dont drive..and wife has a beater. If you are close to Ohio I could send some people your way.

If you are just watching internet TV why not use the original hhd? Or is that the one that actually died on you?

 

Yeah, the original hdd died at the last step of softmodding it. I'm guessing it was doing weird stuff to the previous owner, and that's why I got it for free.. I'd really like to save movie files on it, but if I can only find a compatible hdd of like 10gb or so, I'll have to suffer through for a while. I've formatted two hard drives now, and neither were compatible. I need to find a program that will tell me if the HDD supports ata security, for the drives I find that aren't listed on here. I have another I'll get from a friend to try tomorrow, but it's an OLD one, and only around 8gb... But if it works, at least I'll be able to play games for a while.

I actually live in Northeast Ohio, so shoot me a pm if you know people who want some decals. I have pics of some of my work, too, if they need to see, mainly window stickers cause they're cheap to do and popular.

 

After struggling to find a compatible ver of AR to recognize my usb stick, I finally got it working and have installed unleashx as my current dash.

Ive got flashFXP up and working to do all the ftp's.

*Im just confused after reading other tuts and ppl talking about "apps folder", etc... I dont seem to have one in my xbox directory.

where exactly is my apps folder and dashboard folder?

Do I have to create them under E:?

Im also currently downloading AID v4.5, but when I do install fr AID, would i have to uninstall anything first?

 

thanks

 

I was currently using unleashX, when I decided to try out AID 4.5

I accidentally formatted C, E and un-mounted vitual c.

When I rebooted I got an error 22 which prompted me to press A. It then loaded something fr a temp file (not sure where it was),....It rebooted to a black screen for like 2 min before booting back up to AID disc which was still in.

So while im still in AID, I tried installing xbmc dash on C: (which took forever for some reason) After I finsih installing I reboot hoping to see xbmc, BUT i still have unleashX?

No sign of xbmc. where did all those files go? All I see are some apps like Dvd2XboX and Enigmah NTSC-PAL Video Switcher.

I just want to install xbmc as my default dash using AID.

 

sry for doubl posting. ..I fu*ked up now..

I was so frustrated that I decided to uninstall the softmod and try all over again fr scratch, but the problem was i uninstalled using sid5 from the aid disc.

Long story short, I now have error 13 and 14...yay (sarcasm here).

I can no longer ftp, so I guess I going to have to try the hotswap method.

According to this guide: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/332766

Once I have access though xplorer360, can i just delete whatevers in C & E.
then transfer the proper softmod files back to C and E?


or would I have to restore the ms dash first, then transfer the softmod files?

I wish i could just find proper softmod files w/ C,E with xbmc as default. (would make my life much easier)

 

aizen how did you softmod? You should be able to load the game you used and load the exploit. From there you should be able to ftp new files or fix it simply by restoring the mod backup.

I'm guessing you picked the wrong partition for the softmod and that's why it loaded unleashx again.

make sure you know what partition you're installing to and you should be set. Also make sure you don't install a dual boot, it's not needed and just complicates the process.

 

thanks for the reply c4rn1
I had a little scare there but everything all fixed. I started getting error 13 & 14, could not ftp or even get to any dash. So I had to hotswap and use Xplorer360 to fix my partitions.
Then I finally got xbmc to set as default dashboard (which is the reason i got into all this trouble) I used this guide by fuz3:
And everything worked great.

I guess one of the problems I initially had was with the whole structure of the partitions and where files are located. Since its not universal or standardized not everyone may have a dashboard or apps folder, and may get confused when following a guide that has a different file structure. That was my problem.

But everythings great now......except my xbmc is set to 16:9 but my tv 4:3, but hey I cant complain.

 

I followed the softmod tutorial,and everything appeared to work correctly, successfully installed, rebooted, patched, but I still come to the MS dashboard whether or not my CD tray is open. I'm about to try to reinstall the softmod again, but I'm not sure why it's not working when everything appeared to say it was successful.

 

After reinstall, same problem. Followed tutorial exactly and when I went to reinstall it said no other softmod found before I began the install again. With tray closed, it always goes to the "set date and time" before going to the MS dash, with the tray open it goes straight to the dash without asking me to set the date and time.